All's Fair in Love and War
by Donny's Girl
Summary: Desperate times call for desperate measures.  And times have never been more desperate for Tamriel.  With the emperor and all but one of his heirs dead, it's up to one woman to save Tamriel as well as sort out her own feelings for the wouldbe emperor. R
1. Chapter 1

**All's Fair in Love and War**

By: Donny's Girl

Disclaimer: I do not own Oblivion, the characters, or the plotline of the game. I do own my darling Barenziah…though I don't own her name. I named her after a queen of Morrowind…who in my point of view was awesome, and relates to my character in ways that will be revealed later... I read all of the "Real Barenziah" books hahaha. Nerrrrrd. Hey I was bored…don't give me that look. But yeah, I also own my little twists that I'm putting into the plotline. So ha. There'll be no suing here.

A/N: Ok…before anyone says anything…I am well aware you have all played the game before. Yes, this is a story about my character Barenziah's journey through the main quest of the game, BUT it's twisted to my fancy. Almost the entire plotline of the MQ is in here, but I'm also adding my own stuff so don't think it's just going to be a play-by-play or something. So ha andddd HA. If the fact that it's about the storyline of the game is going to irritate you…leave now. I don't enjoy flames…so don't waste your time. Flamers will be put out with fire hoses. Big ones. And from what I've heard those don't feel good. For anyone else…enjoy

Oh yeah. And any mistakes I make (like big ones…if they don't interfere with the story please don't bother) inform me of them! Be nice. Yes I do say that a lot. But I have a terrible temper so yeah just warning you. Don't be mean heh. Ok now you can go read. Off with you!

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I really am a terribly strong bad luck magnet. All my life I've managed to get myself into trouble one way or another. I always have to do something stupid. I think it might be because of my temper…or my impatience…or my "youthful ignorance" as my mother called it…or all of the above. When I was younger, my mother would always have to ask me to make an effort to behave myself. As if that would make any difference. She seemed to think it would.

"Please, Barenziah," she would say, "Make a conscious effort to keep out of trouble."

Of course, I never did. Well, I tried. But something about being a Dark Elf minority who frequently got wary looks from people, along with being an extremely short-tempered woman, seemed to make me a big target for trouble. It used to be only moderate trouble though. I'd never been to jail, lucky enough to have the money to pay off my "debts to society". But when my mother died, it got worse. The trouble got worse. I got worse. I think it's because I had to watch her take her last breath. It made me so angry that I had to sit through that. She got very ill, but when I'd called up a doctor to come for her, there was nothing he could do for her. He hadn't recognized her illness; the symptoms were like nothing he had ever seen before, he'd said. So he'd gone, given up on my mother, and left me to wait with her for her death to come. But before it did, she asked me to make her a promise. I promised her I would stay safe.

And I had. I hadn't had a big run-in with law enforcers of any kind since her death. Nothing dangerous. But now…that promise was broken, the pieces chucked out the window and broken into even smaller pieces as they hit the ground.

I'd landed myself in the Imperial Prison. Boy, what a place. I'd never been to prison before, but even I knew that my cell was abnormally huge. The lights were really dim too. The only light came from the torches in the hall outside my cell. I couldn't see much unless I stood right next to the door, and so far I hadn't done so. When I'd been tossed in here, I'd stayed on the floor for a long while, leaning against the wall and being angry at everything. I'd even pulled at my deep purple hair, the pain helping me vent some of my frustration. Then I went to sit at the table and chair that seemed fit for a child, and I was still there, sulking and fuming over my stupidity.

It wasn't my fault that Imperial guy in the tavern wouldn't stop looking at me. Of course it shouldn't have surprised me…I _was_ in the Imperial City, whose population was dominantly Imperial, the majority of whom were very racist against Dark Elves. But still, he was working on my last nerve within 10 minutes of my being there. Then he just had to make a crack about Dark Elven prostitutes. My race is very well known for being promiscuous, especially the women. But that doesn't mean I can't be different. But he just had to call me a prostitute. Bloody Imperials. But it was hardly reason to throw me in the Imperial Prison…I barely touched him. He'll have a lovely bruise, and he'd better hope those teeth grow back. But it wasn't like I pulled a dagger on him or something. Besides, I had every right after what he'd said! But of course, the guards are Imperials as well. Racial loyalty plays a big part in Cyrodiil. The mixture of races in the province that was meant to dominantly Imperial made things very tense between certain groups, who were old-fashioned and believed the races should stay in their own provinces.

And there I was, still angry and annoyed at myself and the world for being cruel to me. What did I ever do to it? Nothing. Except try to keep a simple promise to my mother. But no, that's not allowed. Not for dear Barenziah. Since when did "normal" and "life" ever come in the same sentence when applied to me? It was practically laughable.

I hardly felt like laughing now. I was sat back in that tiny wooden chair, arms crossed. I wasn't scowling anymore, but I was still angry. I could feel how tight my jaw was with my frustration. I wasn't sure how long my sentence was. They hadn't told me, and I hadn't really been thinking clearly enough to ask. I sighed and kicked off the stupid sandals they'd given me when they locked me up in here. They were small, and made of an annoying, scratchy material. Like the outside of a wheat bag. They probably had made them out of wheat bags too. They didn't give a damn about prisoners, just about whether they'd get in trouble for not giving prisoners basic necessities. Like stupid shoes. And stale bread. And heavy, itchy clothes that made the already humid cell even harder to bear. I was really annoyed.

I shoved away from the table abruptly, the legs of the chair making a loud and almost angry scraping noise against the stone floor, as if to announce the fact that I was not happy to be here. I walked over to the cell door, illuminating my bright blue skin as I stepped into the light pooling in through the bars. I held onto a bar in each hand, and looked from one end of the hall to the other. There were no guards in here. Odd. You'd think with a Dark Elf being held here they'd be on red alert or something. I shrugged and was about to go back to my brooding when I heard a voice.

"My, my, what a vision."

I frowned, looking for the source of the voice. I hadn't been aware of anyone else in here with me. I looked into the cell directly across from mine, and found the source. It was a Dark Elf man, middle aged, his face drawn into a permanent scowl. Probably a habit or something and it eventually stuck there. He made a face at me. I think it was supposed to be a smile. It looked more like a mix of a grimace and smirk.

"I must surely be dead," he spoke again, ", to look upon someone so lovely. You are beautiful, my dear Dunmer maiden."

I raised an eyebrow at him. Creepy. Not only was he a bit old for me, but he'd also known me for about two seconds, literally. And he was already coming on to me. See what I meant about promiscuity?

"…Do I know you?" was all I could manage, being caught off guard.

"No." His voice was deep and rang with the sound of the smirk on his face. "You don't know me. But you could. May I ask your name?"

May he? Should I tell him my name? Maybe he was in here for life, because he was crazy and a danger to society? Or maybe he would get out one day, and find me somehow? I didn't think long before deciding it was probably the former. "Barenziah…"

"Ah…the beautiful queen of Morrowind. A good choice of name, though your beauty surely outshines that of the queen."

I stared. Wow. Either he was lonely or really desperate. Or both. "I hardly think so…"

He hardly paid any attention to my answer. "I could get us moved into the same cell. You should have some fun before the end."

"FUN?" I asked, glaring, but my temper faded as immediately as it had flared as I thought of something else. "The end?"

"Of course. Didn't they tell you? No one leaves this prison alive."

"Yes they do. You're lying."

"Am I?"

I glared at him. I wasn't completely sure, really. Too unsure to think of anything to say back to him. He made that grimace/smirk face at me again.

"They don't feed new prisoners. You could possibly starve to death. But I can see from your eyes that you are a tough woman. So the probable end for you…would be when you go mad. And they slit your throat just to stop the screaming."

I growled and pressed up against the bars, wishing I could get through to him and strangle him for trying to scare me. "You'd better hope they don't put us in the same cell you filthy…!" I half yelled half growled at him. He made the face at me one more time, before I heard a door open. We both looked up simultaneously. There were footsteps now, on the staircase leading into the cell hall.

"My sons…they're dead, aren't they?" An old man's voice.

"We don't know that sire…the messenger only said they were attacked." A woman's voice.

"No…they're dead. I know it." The man's voice again.

The Dunmer man retreated back into the shadows of his cell, but I remained at the door of mine, still gripping two bars and pressed up against it, curious at to who would be coming down here that wasn't a prisoner. I stared as I saw an old Imperial man with shoulder length gray hair and long colorful robes step down from the staircase, followed by three of what looked like bodyguards, one a woman and the other two men. The old man, his female bodyguard and one of the male bodyguards were Imperials, and the other was a Redguard.

I was surprised when they stopped in front of my cell. The Imperial woman glared at me. "What's this prisoner doing here?" she snapped, looking accusingly at the Redguard man. "This cell is supposed to be off limits!"

I frowned. Off limits? Why?

The Redguard looked nervous under her stern glare, and stuttered. "U-usual mix up with the watch. I…"

"Never mind," she snapped again, turning her attention to me again, her eyes glaring into mine. "Get that gate open." As the victim of her apparently short temper stepped forward to unlock my cell, she snapped at me this time. "Stand back, prisoner. We won't hesitate to kill you if you get in our way." I scowled back at her. I definitely didn't appreciate that tone. She returned the gesture, unafraid. "Over by the window. Now." she said, her tone showing that she meant business. I didn't stop scowling at her, but I did walk backwards toward the wall, until I felt it hit my back. As soon as it did, the door was opened and the four of them walked in. I wondered what they could possibly be doing.

"You…"

My scowling eyes widened in surprise as I looked at the old man, who had spoken to me for the first time. His eyebrows were forced down into a frown as he looked at my face. He stepped toward me.

"I've seen you."

I raised an eyebrow at him. Must be a batty old man. No wonder he needed three bodyguards. I looked down at the ground, uncomfortable with him gazing into my eyes like that.

"Let me see your face." he said. It wasn't an order, but for some reason I obeyed anyway. I looked up, and ended up looking him straight in the eye. I didn't feel compelled to look away either. His eyes were slightly comforting for some reason. "You are the one from my dreams." he said, and I tried to comprehend that, but he was already speaking again. "The stars were right…this is the day. Gods give me strength." He said the last part with his hand on his heart.

"Strength for what? Who are you?" I asked, utterly confused. He didn't even seem to be talking to me when he spoke. He must really be crazy.

He looked a bit surprised at that question. "I am your emperor, Uriel Septim."

I stared. Oh. "Oh, I'm sorry sire." Well that's embarrassing. 21 years old and I don't even know what my emperor looks like.

"There's no need to apologize, child." The emperor said, smiling warmly at me. "I hardly make enough public appearances for so young a lady to know my face."

I nodded, and then cleared my throat nervously. "May I ask…what you're doing in my cell, sire?" I asked quietly. It was weird to ask the emperor of Tamriel a direct question.

He didn't seem to find it as odd as I did. "Assassins attacked my sons. I fear I am next. My Blades are leading me through a secret escape route which, conveniently for you, leads through your cell." He smiled again, the wrinkles on his face crinkling, but still giving the effect of making him look younger. I looked around. All I could see were the stone walls. Unmovable. And I looked up at the tiny window. Definitely not escape worthy. When he spoke again, he seemed to be talking to himself again. "Perhaps the Gods placed you here so that we may meet…there may be great things in store for you, child."

"I go my own way." I told him, a bit more coldly than I had meant it. He didn't seem to notice the tone that had become automatic during my years of independence, or just didn't acknowledge it. He smiled again.

"So do we all. But what path can be avoided that has been set by the Gods?"

My eyebrows furrowed the slightest bit as I analyzed that sentence. I'd never had a very strong connection with the Gods. I'd even doubted them a little. Maybe that was why my luck was always so terrible. The Gods hated me. Lovely.

The female Blade gave Emperor Uriel a slightly exasperated look, but it was more filled with worry than anything else. "Please sire, we must keep moving." she told him. He nodded. She turned to the wall beside her and pressed her hand against a random brick. It sunk into the wall as she pushed it, and a subtle scraping sound echoed through the cell as a bit of the wall opened like a stone door. I stared. Wow. Glad I didn't bump into that. "Better not close this." she said, sounding like she was telling this to herself as well as the others. "No way to open it from the other side." She walked into the hole in the wall. I peeked after her, and saw that it led through a dark tunnel. I raised my eyebrows and looked at the emperor, a bit unsure of this passage. And of whether I was allowed to leave my cell. He nodded at me, smiling again, and followed his Blade into the tunnel.

"Looks like this is your lucky day." said the Redguard, following Uriel. The male Imperial, who seemed to have been born without a voice, followed after him. I looked out my cell door, though I was pretty sure already that no one would stop me if I was traveling with the emperor and his Blades, and followed them.

I was glad that the wall did not close behind me. This passage had hardly any light at all. I could barely see where I was going. The open wall made it a bit lighter in the tunnel, letting in the glow of the torches from the hall. I followed the royal party as they walked through some stone rooms. My eyes began to adjust to the dark a little, and I could see the emperor now, flanked by his Blades with the female in the front, the male Imperial in back and the Redguard on his left side. I felt kind of useless just walking behind them like that, so I went to stand on his right side, leaving him completely boxed in by protectors and a tag-along. I saw him smile at me, and I smiled back tentatively, taken aback by his friendliness.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling me to a stop. I gasped a little and turned, but it was only the Imperial man. I frowned. Why was he scowling at me?

"The emperor may trust you, prisoner," he said darkly, still scowling, "But I don't." I raised my eyebrows at him. Like I cared what he thought. I was just glad to get the hell out of prison. But still, it was a bit weird that he had decided he didn't like me so quickly. "Just stay out of our way." And with that, he went back to walking behind the emperor. I blinked, surprised, before hurrying to catch up with them again.

"Excuse me, Emperor Uriel?" I said quietly, coming up to his right side again. I also felt strange addressing him using his name. What an odd turn of events this was.

"Yes?" he turned his head to me, giving me his attention.

I dropped my voice to a whisper. "Would you mind telling me the name of that Blade behind you, and why he hates me so much?" The emperor seemed to find my question amusing. I didn't think the grouchiest of his Blades was very funny at all.

"That would be Glenroy," he answered me, "One of the finest Blades I've ever had. I feel as though he is my own son." His eyes became sad at the word son, and I looked at the ground, feeling guilty for bringing it up. I wondered how terrible he must feel, now that he had no family in the world except these three Blades. I wondered who would be cruel and genius enough to kill all of the emperor's sons in one night. I was surprised when Uriel brightened up a bit and spoke again. "You're worried that he doesn't trust you?"

"I know he doesn't trust me, sire." I mumbled, rolling my bright red eyes. He'd made that perfectly clear. Practically threatened to kill me if I so much as tripped him.

Uriel chuckled. Why did he find everything so amusing? "He doesn't trust you. And he has good reason. You're a scoundrel who was thrown into the Imperial Prison. Anyone who didn't know better would say you were just slowing us down." I looked up at him, wondering what he was getting at, besides that I was a scoundrel. His wrinkled face was calm again, looking right back at me, his eyes piercing into mine and seeming to read my mind. "But I know better. I dreamt about you. I saw what you will do for Tamriel. You will do great things."

Before I could even try to come up with an answer to that, the whole party stopped abruptly. I nearly fell over trying not to run right into the female Blade, who had stepped protectively in front of the emperor, unsheathing her katana. I peeked around her, and saw that we were in a fairly large room, with two sets of stairs that led down to a lower level of the room.

"Captain Renault?" asked the Redguard quietly, taking out his as well. I heard Glenroy do the same.

"Sh!" hissed Renault sharply, scowling into the darkness. Suddenly, four flashes of red hurled down toward her all at once. I saw her eyes snap wide, even in the darkness, and I stared as she threw up her blade to block three attacks at once. It took me a second to realize that these were people, clad in devilish armor, hiding their faces, and even more deadly looking weapons. "Get back, sire!" she yelled, and Uriel brandished his own blade, but stepped back as she ordered. "Protect the emperor, lads!" she yelled at Glenroy and the other Blade. They both surged forward before she even finished her sentence, and joined the fray.

"Protect yourself…" I heard the emperor whisper as I hurried to his side, jogging backwards and away from the fight. I was unarmed and unhelpful, having never been trained in any form of combat. I took a glance at Uriel, and saw that he was not watching the fight, but had his head bowed and eyes closed, seeming pained. I looked away quickly, feeling as though I was intruding on something very private.

I watched the fight as long as I could, but soon they had gone to the lower level of the room, and I couldn't see anymore. So I just listened, waiting for the sounds of battle to end. And suddenly, they did. I looked up from my hands, which I had been watching, twisting my fingers while I listened, to see the Redguard man walking slowly toward us.

"Baurus, you're safe," sighed the emperor, looking truly relieved. "What of Glenroy?"

"He's safe too sire. He's waiting down there for us."

Uriel didn't say anything, as if he was waiting for Baurus to say more. When he didn't, the emperor's voice became quieter. "And Renault?"

"She's…dead. I'm sorry sire, but we have to keep moving." Baurus' voice was quiet too, and he didn't meet the emperor's gaze as he delivered the bad news. I felt a sharp twist in my stomach. I hadn't even known Renault…but her death was a harsh blow. She'd seemed to be the toughest of the three of them. Her death was definitely not a good omen.

After a long while, Uriel started to nod slowly, and took a long, deep breath. "Right then. Let's keep moving." he said, sounding almost back to normal. The normality didn't reach his eyes though. I could see the pain in them. I wondered if he had felt Renault were his own daughter, as he felt for Glenroy, and probably Baurus as well. Baurus nodded slowly too, and turned to lead the emperor down the staircase to the lower level of the chamber. I followed Uriel, feeling like a tag-along and annoyance. I saw that Baurus and Uriel were keeping their gazes firmly forward as we reached the bottom layer of the chamber. Almost as if they were trying not to look at something. I frowned, looking around as I tried to find what they were trying to avoid seeing. I gasped, a bit loudly, and it echoed.

Renault was a mess. She had blood all over her torso, chest, and face. It looked like there was a puncture wound in her stomach, and she was sprawled on the ground. I knelt down beside her as I vaguely heard Baurus and Glenroy discussing how to get the emperor out safely. I saw that the captain's eyes were still open, and that they were a warm shade of light brown. As I bit the inside of my lip, I reached out to close them, handling her lids gently. I felt my own eyes were still frozen open, not as wide as before, but I was so shocked I had probably lost my ability to blink. I turned as I felt eyes on my back, and saw that the emperor was watching me, with a sad expression. He looked so pained, so old. I didn't like it. I was distracted as Baurus stood in front of me. His face seemed to be warmer than Glenroy's, but still not friendly enough to make me happy about him looking at me, or in my general direction.

"We're going to take the emperor through this doorway," he told me, gesturing toward a door at the end of a tiny indent in the wall. "We should be able to get him out before more assassins come. This doesn't concern you, so don't try to follow us. You can find your own way out. If you run into the assassins…I would run. And scream. We may find you. Or you may find an exit."

"Or not." I said quietly, glowering at him. He sighed, and turned away. He had nothing more to say to me. And with that, Glenroy led the way as the three of them headed through the door. Uriel gave me one last look before Glenroy closed the door behind them. The sound of its closing echoed with finality, telling me that I was now alone. Or at least it sounded like it did to me. I stared at the door, still kneeling by Renault's body, my eyes still frozen open. Then, I heard a crumbling noise.

I whipped my head around to look over my shoulder, and saw a little section of the wall was crumbling away. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but my eyes didn't lessen their seemingly permanent wideness. Then, three huge rats came out of the wall, squeaking and glaring up at me. I half squeaked and half shrieked as I jumped right to my feet. The disgusting creatures were dancing around my legs. I felt their rough hair against my skin, and jumped away. I looked around for something to hit them or kill them with. I looked down at Renault, and saw that her katana was still clasped in her lifeless hand. I knelt down quickly, shuddering as I tried to avoid the rats, and snatched it out of her hand. Once they saw that I had a weapon, the rats became more violent. One leapt up onto me and bit deep into my arm. I yelled as it stung harshly, and sliced the nasty thing's back open. I tried not to pay too much attention to how much blood was oozing out of its body, and stabbed the other two before they could bite me too. I swallowed down the bile as I had to shake their bodies off of the blade, and then turned my attention to my arm. It was bleeding, not too badly, but badly enough to make me sick. I looked away from it, breathing through my mouth so I wouldn't smell the copper scent, and into the darkness of the mysterious hole in the wall. I would definitely need some light if I was going to find my way through there without being eaten by rats.

I stood on one of the stones that had fallen out of the hole when the rats had come after me, and grabbed one of the torches from the wall. That should last until I could find my way out of there. I took in a big, deep breath, and then let it out slowly as I stared into the Black Abyss of the Hole in the Wall. I'm not afraid of the dark, don't get me wrong. I just like to be able to see where I'm going when I don't know where I am.

I decided that I wasn't getting anywhere by just standing there, so I stepped through, torch first. I expected to immediately be attacked by bats or more rats or something, but there was nothing. It was weirdly quiet. I swallowed, and I could hear the gulping sound in the blaring quietness. I stepped carefully on the dirt floor of what looked like some kind of underground cave. Then, I heard more squeaking, and turned just in time to see another huge, ugly rat running for me. I swung out Renault's katana and stabbed it right in the stomach. I tried not to get sick as I shook it off the end of the blade, and trudged on.

I went through a couple more cave-like rooms, all of which consisted of rats. There were so many rats. This went on for a long time, it felt like an hour. I eventually found a tunnel-like passage, and followed it until I got to a wall that had a hole in it. It almost looked like it had been burnt there, like a magical explosion or something had blown the brick out of the wall. It was light outside it, and I was pretty much done with everything around me being pitch black, save for my small bubble of light from my torch. I peeked out of the hole in the wall, and saw that it led to another chamber, similar in architecture to the one where I'd been left by Baurus, Glenroy, and Uriel. I figured it was a better chance of leading to an exit than the stupid cave I'd been wandering around in for who knows how long, and jumped out of it.

I crouched as I landed, but the fall still jolted my ankles, and I winced. I stood up and shook it off, wanting to get moving as soon as possible. I hadn't forgotten about the mysterious, red-robed characters that had killed the Captain, and I wasn't in any hurry to meet up with them again. I'd been terrified as I'd ventured through the black cave, where I couldn't see where I was heading, afraid that one of them would jump out and plunge his blade into my stomach as they had to Renault. Her dead, unseeing eyes kept floating into my memory. I'd had to crouch down a few times and hug my stomach until my breathing steadied.

I had landed on a platform in the chamber, and I walked over to the edge of it to see if I could jump down off of that too without breaking my legs. It wasn't high up enough to hurt me that bad, so I shrugged and went for it, first sitting down on the edge of the ledge and then lowering myself down, and finally dropping to the ground.

"Owww…"I hissed as I landed, but soon got over it as I heard voices coming from behind me. They sounded like they were coming closer, echoing off the chamber walls.

"Help?! What makes you think help will come before more of those bastards?!"

"We have to try! I'm afraid we won't make it out of here before we're encountered by more assassins, and I don't' know about you but I'm exhausted!"

It was Baurus and Glenroy, I recognized their voices. I was relieved that they had both lived this long, but judging by their conversation they had been through a couple more skirmishes since we'd separated. I walked out to meet them, to ask if they could help me find an exit. They all looked shocked to see me, the Blades a bit more so than Uriel though. He looked even more aged, and sadder. All three of them looked extremely agitated, but Uriel had a jumpy look about him, and he kept his eyes on Glenroy and Baurus, sparing a few seconds to look around the chamber, as if he were going to jump out to protect them or something. As if he were able; the man looked positively ancient.

"Damnit! It's that prisoner again!" growled Glenroy, taking out his Blade and glaring menacingly at me. I held Renault's blade firmly, ready to defend myself if necessary. "Kill her! She might be working with the assassins!"

"What?" I gasped, feeling my eyes go wide with incredulity. "No! I don't even know who they are!"

"Lies!" he snarled, and began to advance toward me. 

The emperor's sharp voice stopped us both in our tracks, and we looked at him in unison. "Glenroy! Enough!" Glenroy glared at me briefly, before nodding towards Uriel and sheathing his blade once more. I relaxed, letting my blade arm hang by my side. Uriel gave Glenroy a stern look as he spoke again. "She can help us." Glenroy snorted, but the emperor continued, looking into my eyes this time. "She must help us." I frowned at him. How could I help them? I was practically useless.

"As you wish sire." said Baurus, taking Glenroy's shoulder and pulling him to the side, and began speaking slowly to him in a low voice. I watched as Glenroy slowly relaxed, and kept nodding as Baurus spoke to him. I was interrupted by the emperor's hand on my shoulder. I looked up into his ancient face, and saw that he was smiling at me again.

"They cannot understand why I trust you." he said quietly. "They haven't seen what I have seen." There he goes with his vision thing again. "Don't judge Glenroy too harshly…he's always been one to act first and ask questions later." he said, a small half smile flickering over his face. I nodded slowly. Glenroy seemed more like he was in need of therapy to me. "I have seen the end of my path, child. My death awaits me here; I will not leave this place. That much I know." This statement shocked me, and I stared at him.

"But…aren't you afraid to die?"

He chuckled. How was that funny? Strange old man. "I have lived a long, good life. I welcome my death with open arms, as it is in the Gods' plan and necessary for the future of Tamriel."

"How is it necessary? Your Blades, they can get you out."

Uriel shook his head, his face serious again. "No. I will not leave this place. But you will. I have seen it. You are the future of Tamriel."

"How do you know? How can you know my future?"

"Our stars are linked child. I have seen you in my dreams. Your star sign is The Shadow?" 

I stared at him again. This man was full of surprises. Maybe he wasn't crazy, just gifted. Very, very gifted… "Yes."

He smiled again, as though he had read my mind as I made my realization. "Will you join us? I'm not sure there is another way out. Unless you want to wait out the rest of your prison sentence?" I shook my head, a bit too quickly, and he chuckled again. "Very well. Baurus, Glenroy? Shall we continue?"

"Yes, sire." said Baurus, nodding and heading out to lead the emperor through a wooden door on the other end of the chamber. Glenroy followed close behind him, taking the rear again. I followed behind the three of them, now very anxious. I changed my mind. Uriel was insane. How could he just welcome death like that? He was the emperor, the last Dragon Born because now his heirs were dead as well! He was dooming the empire and yet…I didn't want to stop him. Or rather I couldn't. Whenever I tried to protest I felt as though I were choking and unable to speak. Like someone or something wasn't allowing me to keep the emperor alive. I shuddered as I remembered the stories of ancient heroes being controlled by the Nine, and pushed it from my mind.

My contemplation was interrupted as Glenroy suddenly spoke. "Hold on a second. I don't like the look of this." He drew his blade, and walked out into another chamber, which seemed empty and safe to me. Of course, that's probably why Glenroy thought it was dangerous. He went over to a gate on the right wall of the chamber, and pulled on it. It didn't budge. "Damnit!" he growled again, suddenly looking around the chamber with narrowed eyes. "It's locked from the other side! It's a trap!"

"What about that side passage over there?" suggested Baurus, sounding tense now and gesturing with his head towards a passage on the north wall.

"Worth a try." said Glenroy, already heading over to it. Baurus followed after him, Uriel and I close behind. Glenroy pulled on the iron gate that led to the passage, and he sighed with relief as it creaked open. He went through it immediately, Baurus, Uriel and I doing the same. We didn't get far; the passage led to a closed room.

"Dead end." Baurus voiced what I was thinking, "What's your call sir?"

"I don't know…" said Glenroy quietly, walking back to the gate to look into the chamber. Suddenly, a flash of red slammed into him and made him stumble backward. "They've found us!" he shouted back, unnecessarily because Baurus was already moving.

"Protect the emperor, prisoner! Guard him with your life!" he called to me before dashing forward to assist Glenroy. I pulled out Renault's katana, my stomach fluttering with adrenaline and fear. I would gladly guard the emperor with my life; how long that life would last was a different story. I really had no combat experience at all. I wasn't even good at hand-to-hand. If the gods really had placed me in that cell so that I may meet Uriel, they were incredibly stupid.

I looked away from the gateway as Uriel spoke to me, his tone urgent. "This is the end. I can feel it; the pull is strong. Here." He reached to the back of his neck and took off the great red jewel that he wore around his neck. "This is the Amulet of Kings." He placed it in my hand. "Give it to Jauffre."

"Who's Jauffre?" I asked, but he paid me no heed, the urgency in his voice becoming more prominent as he spoke again.

"He alone knows where to find my last son! Give the Amulet to him, stop the Prince of Destruction! Close shut the jaws of Oblivion!" With these words, he took my hand in both of his and pressed the Amulet of Kings against my palm, as if trying to make it so I wouldn't be able to let it go. Before I could give him my assurance that I would give the Amulet to this "Jauffre", he fell to the floor. I gasped, quietly for my sudden inability to breathe, and saw that there was a small dagger in the emperor's back. The emperor was dead.

I looked up quickly and saw his murderer, another person in that devilish armor, and he was coming right for me. I could hear my heart beating rapidly and my heavy breathing echoing off the walls, and I backed up against the wall. I hurriedly slipped the Amulet around my neck, and cursed when the clasp wouldn't shut. I struggled with it but it didn't want to cooperate, so I shoved it in the pocket of my pants instead, pulling out Renault's katana as I did so. I could almost hear the sneer in the assassin's voice as he spoke to me.

"You picked a bad day to cross paths with the emperor, stranger." As he spoke what I was just beginning to think, he lifted his weapon above his head, getting ready to strike. I winced, waiting for what would surely be my death blow. I was a tad confused when it didn't come, and opened my eyes again. The Blade named Baurus had come to my rescue, and was now fighting off Uriel's assassin. I pressed myself up against the wall, holding Renault's katana straight out in front of me in fear. I hardly relaxed as I watched the assassin fall to the ground, Baurus' blade finally piercing his armor and heart. I stared, stone still, as Baurus slowly came toward me. I couldn't hear what he was saying, although I could vaguely see his lips moving. All I could think of was the look on Uriel's face as he died, as he asked me, pleaded with me, to bring the Amulet of Kings to a man I didn't even know. A cold tear running down my cheek and onto my neck brought me back to reality, and I could now see clearly Baurus standing in front of me with his hands in the air.

"It's alright prisoner…I'm not going to hurt you."

I continued to stare at him. Why was he saying that? It was then that I noticed I still had Renault's sword out in front of me. Oh. He must be afraid I'd attack him in my madness or something. Psh. I lowered the weapon until it was just hanging by my side. Baurus seemed to relax at that, and took a step toward me. I blinked, trying to stop the tears that were flooding my vision. I was surprised to see that Baurus seemed to be having the same problem, and watched as he removed his helmet and brushed the salt water from his cheeks with the back of his hand. I opened my mouth to ask him where Glenroy was, but closed it as I realized I already knew. I had to swallow to keep back the loud sob that threatened to escape me.

"We've failed." he said eventually, and I heard faintly the crack in his voice that he was trying to hide, "I've failed." I shook my head at him, still lost for words, but he shook his back at me. "It is the duty of the Blades to protect the emperor, and now he and all his heirs are dead." He looked down then, to the emperor's dead body, and suddenly his face snapped back to me, now panic-stricken. "The Amulet? Where's the Amulet of Kings? It's not on his body!"

I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out the red jewel. "He gave it to me."

"Gave it to you?" Baurus obviously didn't believe me.

"Yes. He told me to give it to someone named Jauffre."

"Hmm…" the Redguard considered me for a moment, studying my face before nodding slowly. "Strange. He saw something in you. Trusted you."

I stared at the ground, trying to blink away the tears again. Then I looked at the Amulet sitting in my palm, and traced my finger over the ridges on it. I clenched it in a fist, and looked back up to Baurus. "Where can I find Jauffre?"

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I definitely should have kept those shoes. I was running on a seemingly endless stone road, and my feet were practically throbbing with the pain of smacking them against the hard stone again and again. I was headed for Chorrol, where Baurus told me I could find this man called Jauffre. Before I'd left the sewers some hours ago, he'd told me that Jauffre was the Grandmaster of The Blades who lived as a monk in the Weynon Priory chapterhouse just outside the city of Chorrol. Baurus had stayed behind with the emperor's body, to see if any more of the assassins came. I prayed, to no one in particular, for his safety.

Since I'd left I'd been running, running in my hurry to get to Jauffre and in my fear of being followed by the assassins. This adrenaline had kept me for going for quite some time, but right about now I was getting very exhausted, and had slowed to a quick jog rather than a sprint. I could feel the Amulet banging against my leg in my pocket, and this was what had kept me going after I got tired. But I hadn't noticed the exhaustion as much till now. Now I could feel my knees involuntarily buckling beneath me, and I had to throw my hands out in front of me and push myself back up to keep from collapsing. Just when I thought I might I came to a fork in the road. One way, I could see a gate- the entrance to Chorrol. I nearly fell over in my relief. Instead I looked the other way, and saw that it led to a small house, along with a small chapel. This must be Weynon Priory.

"Finally!" I rasped, my throat dry from the constant panting, and despite my exhaustion I jogged to the door of the house, and knocked. I bent over and put my hands on my knees as I waited, supporting myself. When I saw light spill onto my bare feet I straightened up again to see a not too old, not too young man standing in front of me. He looked curious, and I quickly tried to wet my dry throat so that I could talk to him.

"May I help you?" he asked, sounding a bit suspicious at the strange Dark Elvin girl that couldn't seem to find a way to speak, and probably looked a mess too.

"Yes." I said, nodding and tucking my hair behind my ear, looking past him into the chapterhouse. "I need to speak to Jauffre."

"He's inside up the stairs. Go ahead." He opened the door wider to let me in. I stepped in immediately, realizing at that moment just how cold it was outside. I wrapped my arms around myself as the man closed the door, and nodded briskly to him as he put a hand on my back and gestured with his arm towards the stairs in front of me. I went up them immediately, hardly taking in my surroundings, just relieved to have finally reached Jauffre. I took a right and found myself in a small study full of desks and shelves of books. Right across from me was a window revealing the starry sky outside, and in front of it a balding Breton man with grey hair seated at a desk, reading by torchlight. I made my way towards him, and he looked up as I did so, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Are you Jauffre?" I asked, placing my hands on his desk and leaning toward him. He'd better be, or I'd have to kill someone.

"Yes," he said, never looking away from me as he closed his book and set it on the desk in front of him. "What do you want?"

"Emperor Uriel Septim sent me to find you." I told him, still leaning toward him and resisting the urge to fall over and go to sleep right there on the floor.

"The Emperor? Do you know something about his death?"

"I was there when he died."

Jauffre seemed to tense at that, and his eyes narrowed suspiciously as he spoke again. "Explain yourself. Now."

I didn't hesitate to snatch the Amulet of Kings from my pocket and drop it on the table in front of him. "He asked me to bring you this."

Jauffre picked up the Amulet and stared at it for a moment before looking back up at me. "The Amulet of Kings…but why would he give it to you?"

"I don't know why he would give it to me. But he did, and he told me to bring it to you. He said you knew where to find his last son."

"Yes..." said Jauffre, and he frowned at the Amulet as if thinking very hard. I waited, albeit impatiently.

"The Emperor." I said eventually, thinking maybe he'd forgotten I was there. "He said something about the Prince of Destruction. Who would that be?"

"That would be Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric Prince of Destruction. There have been rumors that some of his followers might be trying to bring him back to power…" said Jauffre, frowning at me and his voice trailing off. "Did he say anything else?"

"Yes…something about closing shut the Jaws of Oblivion…?"

"Hm…it would seem that we have a crisis on our hands then." he said, standing while still holding the Amulet and beginning to pace the floor. I watched him for a while, wondering what he was talking about, before he spoke again. "You need to find Uriel's son. His name is Martin, and he lives as a priest in the city of Kvatch. You may stay the night here, but come morning you must go to Kvatch and bring Martin back here as soon as possible so that we may get him to safety."

I nodded. "Did you say I could stay the night here?"

"Yes."

"Good. Would you show me to a bed? I'm about to collapse."

"Of course," He took my arm and led me out of the study and to a small area with four beds in it. "You may sleep in one of these beds tonight."

"Thank you."

"You're quite welcome. And, I'm sorry but you never introduced yourself."

I looked at him, confused as to why he could possibly care what my name was when his emperor was just murdered and said emperor's last son and the only hope for the empire was somewhere far from where any help could come to him should he get into trouble.

"I'm Barenziah."

"Pleased to meet you. Goodnight Barenziah."

"Goodnight Jauffre. And thank you."

He nodded before leaving, and as soon as he did I collapsed onto one of the beds. It was very soft, and I immediately closed my eyes, sighing with relief. I was so ungodly tired.

I got under the bedcovers as I began to get cold in the drafty wooden walls of the room, and welcomed unconsciousness to relieve me of the images of Uriel's blue, unseeing eyes staring back into mine.

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A/N: ha…lame ending. Still, it could be worse. Don't forget to review!!!


	2. Chapter 2

**All's Fair in Love and War**

By: Donny's Girl

Disclaimer: Don't own anything except Barenziah and my twists to the plotline. Blah blah you knew that…god I hate disclaimers.

A/N: Woo I got a couple reviews! Haha. It got like 75 hits, but that doesn't mean people liked it…oh well. I'll keep writing anyway. Thanks to my few reviewers though : Enjoy and don't forget to review (hint hint)!!! Hehe :P

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"Would you happen to have any armor that doesn't feel like an elephant is riding on my back?"

Brother Piner laughed at my comment, which wasn't supposed to be funny but was actually the truth. Jauffre had given me a set of iron armor, in case I ran into trouble on my way to or from Kvatch. It felt literally like an elephant was perched on my shoulders, and I was considering going without armor altogether.

I suggested this aloud, and Piner frowned at me. He was a very nice man, and I had come to like him in the short time that we had been able to talk. I'd gotten up a bit late in the day, and had descended the chapterhouse stairs to find only Piner sitting at the small table, reading. I had sat and ate breakfast beside him, chatting with him about his mother, who seemed desperately worried about him being out here in danger. I thought it was nice that she was so worried about him, but he found it obnoxious.

"I don't understand what her problem is," he'd said, "I can take care of myself."

At my 'no armor' comment, he snorted. "Right. You are expecting to last _more _than ten seconds out there, aren't you?"

I scowled slightly at him. "I ran all the way here with no armor. At night too."

"Sheer luck. And by now there could be anyone out there- we aren't sure if whoever murdered the emperor knows who you are, or if they know that there's an heir in Kvatch. We have to be cautious."

I pouted and rapped my knuckles on the front of the cuirass. It made a hollow clanging noise. I tried to think of a good argument that could get me out of wearing it, and smiled hopefully. "I doubt this will help speed my progress at all."

"That's what horses are for." Piner countered, smirking at me.

I blinked for a second before sitting back in my chair and grumbling, "Touché." Piner chuckled, and I couldn't help but smile.

"About ready, Miss Barenziah?"

Piner and I turned simultaneously to see Jauffre standing at the middle of the stairs, holding something that looked like a rather large leather backpack. I nodded.

"Good. I'd like to give you this pack; it's for any items that you find in coming days, and in it there are smaller pouches that you can use for money and small things like that, as well as a map of Cyrodiil. I hope you'll find it useful."

"Thank you Jauffre, that's very generous."

He nodded and continued. "I've also put your clothing from yesterday in here. I wasn't sure if you wanted to keep it or not."

"Thank you Jauffre. Now if I could just see that for a moment…"I stood, giving Piner a sideways smirk, and grabbed the pack from Jauffre's hands.

I felt Piner's disapproving stare on my back as he said warningly, " Barenziah…", but I paid him no heed and ascended the stairs to change out of my Elephant Armor.

"What is she doing?" I heard Jauffre ask as I struggled to get my feet out of the annoyingly clanky boots.

"She doesn't like the armor…she seems to think it feels like an elephant. She refuses to wear it."

"Is she mad?" I smiled at that.

"A bit, I think." At that I chuckled. I heard Jauffre sigh, and then the door close to announce his departure as I got the rest of the armor off, and changed back into the sack cloth pants and shirt from the prison. I sighed at the uncomfortable feeling of them, and leaned over the railing until I could see Piner's face. When he saw mine, he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes. Do you happen to have any decent women's clothing lying around here? These prison clothes are going to scratch my skin off."

Piner sighed heavily and stood, a small half smile playing on his lips all the same. "Picky with clothes are we?"

"Not normally. I just don't enjoy wearing Elephant Armor or wheat sacks."

His half smile became a wider half grin as he said, "I can check…you don't mind dresses do you? That may be all we have."

"I suppose not…that depends how tight it is though. Can't have the thing sucking the life out of me while I'm trying to pace myself, right?"

He rolled his eyes, and came up the stairs to me, and took my arm as he led me to a closet. I stood and watched as he filed through the clothes, scratching at my arms and legs as I did so. I caught his sideways glance and narrowed my eyes. "What?"

He shook his head and turned back to the clothes. "It might not itch so much if you just left it. You're making it worse by scratching at it." I stuck my tongue out at him and made to comment back, but he cut me off. "Ah, here we go. This is all we've got, so take it or leave it." He pulled a blue and green dress out of the closet. It was pretty, not too fancy and not too shabby. It also looked like it wouldn't be too small on me, but I'd have to try it before making any decisions. I grabbed it from his hand and shoved him towards the stairs.

"Shoo. I need to try it on."

He chuckled quietly at me and obeyed, going down to probably sit at the table again and wait for me. I threw off the wheat sack clothes and put on the dress. It felt very nice against my once itchy skin, and I liked how it only fell to my ankles, instead dragging on the ground at my feet. The torso was also a bit loose so I could breath, and the skirt was wide enough so I could maneuver my legs easily. A very non-irritating dress.

I walked down the stairs, jumped the last three steps and landed with my arms spread wide to present myself. "Ta-da! How does it look?"

Piner smiled at me, and nodded his approval. "Lovely. Although the armor was more your style…"

"Funny. Try as hard as you want but I will not wear that bloody armor." I smirked, and he shook his head.

"It's your neck."

"Yes, so why should you worry about it?"

"You'd best get to Kvatch before Jauffre gets irritated and I decide to force the armor on you."

I laughed. "You're probably right. We can't leave this Martin alone for too long. Might get himself into trouble."

"I can almost guarantee that. This is where the armor would come in handy." 

"Goodbye Brother Piner." I said loudly, throwing open the door before he could say anything else. I heard him chuckle and say something quietly to himself before I closed the door.

I still had an amused smile on my face as I swung the pack over one shoulder and headed to the stables, and saw that Brother Maborel was there, feeding his paint horse that I would be using for the journey to Kvatch. He smiled at me as I approached, and I smiled back, Piner having put me in good spirits.

"Good morning Miss Barenziah."

"Morning, and please, enough of the formalities. _I'm _not the heir to the throne or anything." I scolded him, smiling.

"Right." He seemed to brush off my comment. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "This is my horse Dibella. You'll be using her to get to Kvatch."

I giggled. "Aw, you named your horse after Dibella?"

He shrugged and stroked Dibella's forehead. "She's a beautiful horse."

"That she is." I agreed, grinning at the back of his head, and then sighed. "Well, I'd better get going. Jauffre probably isn't happy that I've waited this long." I mounted Dibella easily, and she didn't seem to be bothered by me at all. I put the other pack strap on my second shoulder and grabbed the reins, steering the horse out of the stable. "I'll be back soon, Maborel. Tell Jauffre I'm sorry." Maborel nodded, and waved as I coaxed Dibella into a brisk jog, and I waved back as I left the Priory.

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My good spirits immediately vanished as I approached what looked like a campsite in front of the winding road that led to Kvatch. The people in this camp looked sad, frightened, and distraught. I frowned as I pulled back on the reins to make Dibella slow to a walk, and yelped as an urgent voice beside me startled me.

"Run! Run while there's still time!"

I looked down to see an Altmer man with a frantic expression on his face. He looked like hell- his hair was disheveled and his face was covered in soot, as were his clothes. He grabbed my hand and shook it wildly when I didn't respond.

"Do you understand me?! You need to run! It's too dangerous here!"

I snatched my hand back from him, an automatic reaction when people touched me that way. "Slow down! What happened?"

"You don't KNOW? Daedra overran Kvatch last night! They opened an Oblivion Gate outside the walls and burned Kvatch to the ground!"

"What?" I gasped, looking panic-stricken up to the top of the hill that held what was once the city of Kvatch. "Were there any survivors?"

He grabbed both my shoulders now, his Altmer height allowing him to do so, and shook me madly. "We're all that's left! Do you understand?! Everyone else is dead!"

I snatched his wrists and wrenched his hands off of me, and tried for calm and soothing. "It's going to be alright, just calm down-"

"No! I'm getting out of here! I can't stay here another minute with these hopeful fools!" And with that he dashed out of sight, with a speed I didn't think he had in him. I stared after him with wide eyes, and quickly dismounted Dibella. If Martin wasn't in this group of survivors…the Empire was finished.

"Excuse me?" I placed my hand on the dark brown shoulder of a Redguard woman who was standing on her own, gazing into one of the fire pits in the campsite. She jumped a little and looked at me. A warm smile spread across her face, but it didn't reach her eyes, which were still distant and sad.

"I'm sorry stranger, you startled me. Can I help you?"

"Yes. I'm Barenziah, and I'm looking for Brother Martin. The priest? Is he here?"

"No, I don't think he made it out of the city." My heart plummeted, and I felt my eyes go wide as they could go. No, no, no…the heir couldn't be dead! "But, I do think that I saw him leading a group into the chapel. Maybe they're still there." She said quickly, noticing my panic. My breathing slowed ever so slightly. So there was still hope. I nodded and thanked her before jogging back to Dibella, mounting quickly and setting off for what was left of Kvatch.

As I traveled up the road that wound up the small mountain that held Kvatch, the sky began to turn a deep blood red, and I heard thunder sounding in the background from an unseen storm. I swallowed and urged Dibella on faster, not wanting to linger near anything to do with Oblivion for very long. When I got to the top, I noticed that three guards were standing outside the city gates, fighting off the daedra that were coming from a huge Oblivion Gate that blocked entrance to the city. I practically leapt off of Dibella, and ran to what looked like a tall Imperial man.

He turned to me and scowled, gripping my shoulder and swinging me right back around to face the road. "Get back to the encampment, citizen. This is no place for you."

I scowled and pulled his hand off of my shoulder, and turned back to face him. "And who do you think you are?"

"I think I'm Savlian Matius, captain of the Kvatch Guard, and I'm ordering you to get back to the encampment!"

"Oh…"I said, but ignored him all the same. "What happened?"

"We lost the damn city, that's what!" He snarled, and I saw the angry pain in his eyes as he said it. "We need to try to find a way in. There was a group headed for the chapel, and they could still be in there. We need to get them out."

"How're you going to do that?" I asked, turning to stare at the huge Gate. It randomly spit fire into the air and onto the ground. The heat coming from it was immense, and I was suddenly very grateful that I didn't bring that stuffy armor.

"I don't know, but we don't need you making things more difficult by standing here asking questions."

"Are you too afraid to go in and close the Gate or something?" I asked him, frowning up at him and looking him straight in the eye.

"No!" He growled, glaring at me. "We sent men into the Gate some time ago, but they haven't returned. We're waiting for them."

"Why don't you send someone in there to look for them?"

"We're not willing to risk anymore men."

I frowned as I still stared at the Gate, and then an insane idea came to me, and I voiced it without even thinking. "I could go in and look for them for you."

Obnoxiously, he laughed at me. "You?"

I glared. "Yes, me."

"But…look at you! You don't even have any armor!"

"What is it with men and armor?!" I snarled, and took out Renault's katana, which was strapped to my waist, and stomped towards the gate. I heard Savlian calling me back, but I soon couldn't hear him as the sound of thunder got louder when I stood right in front of the Gate. The heat was terrible, and the light was blinding. I took a deep breath, now completely convinced that Jauffre's assumption of my madness was correct, and stepped through.

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"Savlian, she's been inside that Gate for ages." said Jesan quietly. Savlian had been staring at the Oblivion Gate since the strange Dark Elf woman had gone inside. They'd been waiting for what felt like hours, but no one had emerged from the Gate except Llend, one of the men they had sent into the Gate earlier, who said that he had seen the girl inside the Gate. He said that she had gone to find Menien, another soldier that had been sent into the Gate, and to try to find a way to close it.

Llend was currently staring at the Gate just as intently, if not more, than Savlian, terrified that the woman who had saved his life would lose her own.

"I know," said Savlian, turning to Jesan and sighing. "But we have to wait. She's our only hope." The two Imperials turned back to watch the Gate. Scamps had stopped coming out of it a few minutes after the strange woman had entered, and now they had nothing to do but wait. Suddenly, the Gate began to glow brightly, and the three men had to shield their eyes from the blinding light. The Gate seemed to explode with light, and then it sank back into the ground.

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"Finally!" I gasped as I looked to the top of the chamber, where the Sigil Stone was suspended in the air by a beam of fire. I'd been wandering around what was supposedly called the Sigil Tower for way too long, in search of the Sigil Stone. Trailing behind me was Menien, the man that Llend had sent me to look for and had been kept prisoner in one of the smaller towers. He'd told me that the Sigil Stone was the anchor to Oblivion Gates, and that removing it from its suspension would cause the Gate to close. I'd managed to kill Menien's captive and get the key to cage he was in, and he'd been my companion till now.

"We need to get to that stone quickly!" urged Menien, and I nodded, taking off running for the thorny stairs that led to the second level of the chamber. Waiting for us were a few scamps and what I thought were Daedric mages or something. I killed them off, Menien unable to help for being unarmed, and we ran up to the third level, where we would be able to remove the stone.

"Alright, stand back. We don't know what will happen when I remove this." I called to him over the strange wavering noise that was coming from the beam of fire keeping the Sigil Stone suspended in the air. He nodded and stayed where he was as I sheathed my sword and approached the stone. It was radiating heat, just as intense as the Gate's, and I worried that it would burn me if I touched it. I tested this theory, reaching out to poke it, but it felt cool, as if it were just an ordinary rock.

I took a deep breath, and quickly grabbed it with both hands and snatched it out of the air. Immediately there was an exploding sound, and I felt the ground shake beneath me, knocking Menien and I off our feet. I held the stone tight to my chest, and closed my eyes as I felt a random hot wind swirling around me, throwing my hair into the air and threatening to toss me off the ground. I felt Menien's hand on my arm as he gripped me, probably afraid that I was going to fly away or something. And suddenly, the wind became more intense, almost like an explosion, and I clamped my mouth and eyes tight.

I kept my eyes closed even as the wind stopped. The air was cool, the ground didn't feel like stone anymore. I still felt Menien's hand on my arm, and then his voice in my ear, "We did it! You closed it!" I wrenched open my eyes, and sure enough we were outside the Kvatch gate, right where the Oblivion Gate had been. I still held the Sigil Stone tight to my chest, and I loosened my grip on it, taking a good look at it. It was a perfectly rounded stone, emitting a strange red glow and that same sound that I'd had to yell over in the chamber.

I looked up as I heard another voice. "You did it! The Gate is gone!" It was Savlian Matius, and it took me a moment to realize that he was speaking to me, and another to realize that he was holding out a hand to help me up. I shook my head to clear it, and took his hand gratefully, heaving myself to my feet. "Miss, I owe you an apology. I was not as kind to you as I should have been, and I doubted you. I was wrong to do so."

I smiled and waved him off. "No harm done. My name is Barenziah by the way. Please don't use formalities."

He smiled back and nodded. He looked relieved, his now high spirits revealing his handsome smile and good-natured air. However, his smile faded into frown as he gave me a one over. "You look like you could use a bath."

I raised my eyebrows and looked down at myself. I was covered in soot and dirt. Hopefully the dress wasn't ruined. I'd have to bug Piner for some new clothes… I shrugged off my strange train of thought as a result of shock, and shook my head again, trying to get my mind to start working correctly.

"Menien, are you alright?" Savlian asked the man beside me, and I looked to him, asking the same question with my eyes.

"I should be fine after a little recuperation." assured Menien, nodding and rubbing the soot from his face with the back of his hand. "Would you happen to have a weapon for me? I want to help now."

I felt the pack still on my shoulders, and was relieved that the wind hadn't cast it away. I dropped the Sigil Stone over my shoulder into the pack as Savlian handed Menien a shortsword, relieved that the Stone was mysteriously weightless.

"Savlian," I said, turning to the Imperial man, "I need to find Brother Martin. Did you see him before you left the city?"

"Yes; he was leading a group to the chapel. You can check for him in there, but will you first help my men and I clear the front of the chapel of Daedra? We don't want to risk any of the survivors in the chapel getting hurt as they're evacuated."

"Of course." I nodded, and wiped the soot off of my eyes and mouth. "Let's get going." Then a thought came to me, and I looked over Savlian's shoulder. He frowned at me.

"What is it? What are you looking for?"

"Llend… Did he make it out?"

"Yes, he's right back there with Merandil and Jesan."

"Oh, good." I sighed, relieved. I'd met up with Llend after about 5 seconds of being inside the Gate, and I could tell that he had been completely exhausted when I spoke to him. He'd insisted that he help me look for Menien and close the Gate, but I made him leave and go back to Savlian to help with the barricade. It was a decision to save his life, really. I could have used his help, but I didn't want to endanger him.

Merandil, Jesan, and Llend approached now, all looking amazed and relieved to see Menien and me. Llend took both my hands and thanked me over and over for saving his life, and I had to tell him to stop before he would stop doing so. All three of them slapped Menien on the back and thanked the Nine for his safe return. After reunions were finished, Savlian said, "Alright, men. It's time to get those civilians to safety. Are we ready?"

All four of them replied "Aye," and I nodded, unsheathing Renault's katana again.

"Right, then. For Kvatch!" yelled Savlian, and the other four echoed him, and they all dashed into the Kvatch gate, and I followed on the rear. As soon as we entered the gate Merandil was hit with a fireball.

"Watch it!" yelled Jesan.

The front of the church was crawling with scamps and Daedric mages. I immediately took down a scamp, already used to the spurt of blood that would normally make me sick, and worked with the other four men to take back the plaza. When all the Daedra were dead, which took a surprisingly short time, I heard Savlian laugh. "We wiped the bastards out!" I jogged back to him, along with the other three. All of them were grinning, but I felt shaken. Must be a male thing; killing is fun, or something. "Alright, it's safe to get the civilians out. Let's go see if they're alright."

The four of us nodded to him, and followed him to the church door. I heard Menien ask if I was alright, and I chuckled. "As good as I can be; covered in soot and blood, but my spirits are still sky high." He chuckled too, and held the chapel door open for me as I stepped inside.

There were 5 or 6 people inside, along with a female Redguard and male Imperial Kvatch guard. Jesan patted my shoulder and pointed toward an Imperial man standing in the corner with blue robes and shaggy brown hair. "That's Brother Martin. You were looking for him, right?"

"Yes, thank you." I said, nodding and smiling to him before heading over to the man. He didn't seem to notice me; he was staring into space. "Excuse me? Brother Martin?" I seemed to have startled him, because he jumped slightly and turned quickly to me. Immediately he smiled, and I shoved out of my mind the fact that his smile was handsome and that his eyes were a striking bright blue. I also decided he couldn't be Imperial, he was much too tan.

"Yes. And you must be the one that closed the Gate."

"Yes." I nodded, looking at the ground. For some reason when I met his gaze I hadn't wanted to look away; I was avoiding that at all costs.

"Thank you, on behalf of all the other survivors. I don't know how long we would be stuck in here if not for you."

"You need to come with me." I told him, looking up and forcing myself to meet his gaze. "You're in danger here."

"Danger? You came all the way to Kvatch and closed an Oblivion Gate to tell me I'm in danger?" He looked puzzled, and cocked his head to the side as he observed me.

"Yes. You're the last son of Uriel Septim."

"Emperor Uriel Septim? My father? No…you must have the wrong man. My father was a farmer." He looked like he thought I was insane. I scowled slightly; I'd had enough of that look for one day.

"No, Martin. The daedra came here for you." I told him, urging him to believe so we could get a move on. I hadn't really thought about the fact that 'illegitimate son' meant that Martin had no idea that Uriel was his father, and that he probably wouldn't believe that he was the son of the once most powerful man in Tamriel.

"An entire city destroyed to get at me?" He asked quietly, his eyes widening as he stared into mine. "Why…? Because I'm the emperor's son?"

"Yes. I wouldn't lie to you, not about this. The empire needs you."

He considered me for a moment, frowning. "You're…really telling the truth, aren't you?"

"Of course I am! Look, you need to come with me to Weynon Priory, and talk to Jauffre. He's the grandmaster of the blades, and he can tell you everything." I noticed that my words scrambled together in my irritated rush; he was making this very frustrating.

He shook his head slowly, now frowning at the ground. "I'm…not sure I believe you. But, you closed the gate, and saved these people. I will come with you to Weynon Priory, and hear what Jauffre has to say." It took me a moment to process what he'd said; I'd been listening to his voice more than his words. It sounded like nothing I'd ever heard before; sort of like a bunch of racial accents mixed into one. It was enchanting…I shook my head, shoving the stupid thoughts from my mind. Must still be in shock. No wonder I'd never taken up an adventurer's life, I took so long to recover.

"Right." I said, nodding.

"Brother Martin, are you coming? I'm taking the others to the encampment." I heard the Redguard woman calling to him, and I turned to her with a smile.

"He's coming with me." She nodded and headed out, the civilians filing out behind her. I looked at Savlian. "I'm sorry I can't stay and help, Savlian; I have urgent business to tend to. You can handle everything without me, yes?"

"Of course, Barenziah. Thank you for your help!"

I nodded to him, and turned my attention to Martin again. "Come on, we need to get moving."

Martin nodded and followed me to the door, where I said my goodbyes to the Kvatch guardsmen, all of them urging me to visit in a few weeks when rebuilding of the city started. I promised that I would, and finally got out of the church.

Martin said nothing as we made our way down the winding road and through the encampment, except the occasional mumbled 'hello' to those who greeted him. I cast a sideways glance at him to read his expression, but it was impossible. He was staring straight ahead, his jaw set and his eyes expressionless. He remained this way for quite some time as I found Dibella feeding on some grass near the camp and the both of us mounted her. He still didn't speak as we made our way down the road toward Weynon Priory, and only the sound of Dibella's steady gallop filled the air. I thought the silence would drive me mad, so I spoke first.

"I'm…sorry this is such short notice. It must be kind of…frightening."

"A bit." He sighed, and I suddenly felt guilty for bringing him into a mess he might not be prepared for. I wanted to say something else, but I couldn't seem to get the words out. I heard him exhale through his nose, and then he spoke, overly casual,"How far to Weynon Priory?"

I tried not to chuckle at his small talk. "Half a day, maybe a bit more if we're held up." I could feel him tense at the words 'held up' and I smiled. "Don't worry, I won't let anything or anyone harm you. You're safe with me." He didn't answer, and I wondered if he believed me. Well, it was foolish to trust someone you just met with your life…Uriel's face swam into my memory briefly, and I swallowed. Yes, it was foolish to trust a stranger so easily. But if Martin was Uriel's son, he was perfectly capable of being foolish. Part of me hoped that he was, that he would trust me and allow me to protect him in the coming days. Another part sincerely hoped he was smarter than that, and wouldn't put his life and future into the hands of someone he barely knew, and welcome death as easily and guiltlessly as his father had.

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"Help! You must help! They're killing everyone at Weynon Priory!"

I jumped off of Dibella at once as the Dunmer shepherd Eronor nearly collided with us in his all out sprint. "What? Who?" I asked, looking over his shoulder to the chapterhouse. It was night, the stars shining brightly over the Priory. It had taken Martin and I about half a day, as I had expected, to arrive here, and we hadn't been here for 30 seconds before Eronor approached us.

Over his shoulder I saw three people, dressed exactly like the assassins that had attacked the royal party under the prison. My heart raced as the memories of their devilish armor flashed through my mind, and I realized that all of them had not been doing the real thing justice at all. I wanted to move, to pull out Renault's sword and fight, but I couldn't move. I was frozen. My brain suddenly started working again as I heard Martin shout in my ear, "Watch out!" I felt a jolt in my stomach, and ripped Renault's katana from its sheath and blocked an attack that would have struck me in the head if I hadn't snapped out of it. Eronor ran for it, took off for the road without a backward glance. I growled at his cowardice, because now I would be fighting alone. But as I was dueling with a smaller, feminine looking assassin, a burst of lightning shot past my left shoulder and sent my opponent flying into the air. I felt that my eyes were wide as I looked over my shoulder to see Martin in a defensive stance. I frowned, but couldn't wonder where he'd learned that for very long, because suddenly I heard someone calling my name.

"Barenziah! You're back!"

I turned to see Brother Piner running toward me, akaviri katana in hand and a relieved expression on his face. He was speckled with blood and looked disheveled, and I gave him a quick one-over to find him mostly in tact. "Piner! Are you alright?"

"Yes, are you?"

"I'm fine. Where is Jauffre?"

"He was in the chapel praying before the assassins got here. I don't know if he's alright, we should go find him."

I nodded to him. "Right. Martin, stay here. Scream and yell if anything happens, and I'll come for you." Martin nodded, his arms still held out in front of him in defense, and I sprinted for the chapel, Piner behind me.

I shoved the doors out of my way to find Jauffre dueling with three assassins, and I immediately went to his aid. Piner and I each took on one assassin, and within a minute they were all defeated. The chapterhouse was filled with the copper scent of their blood, and I struggled to keep my stomach under control.

"You're back!" exclaimed Jauffre, looking as relieved as Piner had. "Thank Talos!"

"I've found the heir Jauffre. He's waiting outside."

"Thank the Nine he still lives…but I fear the Amulet was the reason for this attack. We must check that it is safe."

"Alright, let's go." I agreed, and followed him as he ran out of the chapel, sheathing his katana as he went. I gestured toward the door with my head for Piner to follow me, and he obeyed, keeping pace beside me. We ran straight past Martin, and I thought I heard him say something to me, but I was too frightened that the Amulet might be gone to pay attention for long.

Jauffre made it up the stairs of the chapterhouse before us, and I heard a closet door open as Piner and I made our way up the stairs. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I stepped into a secret room with double doors. Jauffre was standing in the middle of it, a horrified expression on his face. Behind him was a wooden box, that look as though the top had been violently wrenched off. I stopped in my tracks at his expression.

"They've taken it!" he exclaimed. "The Amulet of Kings is gone!"

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A/N: Dun dun dunnn! Hahaha…wow that took a long time to get up... Sorry about that. Thanks to my reviewers and I shall update soon! Really, I will this time. Haha :


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